The Internet of Things (IoT) is a technology that enables interconnectivity to a broad spectrum of devices and objects. Certain devices in an IoT network may provide key services (e.g., connectivity, authentication, configuration/admission control, etc.) to other devices in the network. For example, IoT networks typically operate in an “infrastructure mode” for which a wireless hub (e.g., access point and/or base station) provides a shared wireless communication medium for use by a number of client devices. A significant portion of an IoT network may be used for machine-to-machine (M2M) communications, which occur between machines or devices (e.g., machine-type communication (MTC) devices) with little or no human interaction.
A typical MTC device may have a primary antenna and at least one diversity antenna that may be used to improve the quality and/or reliability of wireless communications. The diversity antenna is typically activated each time an MTC device initiates a “traffic call” to send and/or receive data traffic over the network. However, using the diversity antenna increases power consumption (e.g., compared to using only the primary antenna). Thus, the diversity antenna may be subsequently deactivated (e.g., during the traffic call) if the MTC device determines that the channel conditions are sufficient or adequate to facilitate communications using only the primary antenna.
MTC devices are often battery-operated and tend to be highly power sensitive. Thus, it would be desirable to reduce the power consumption of MTC devices.